Thursday, March 09, 2006

Rest in peace, 144b

I received the terrible news from capper Generik just a few minutes ago:

Cappers --

It is with a very heavy heart that I send this message out. I just spoke on the phone with Bert "144b" Tilley's mother and found out that he passed away February 20th. He died of congestive heart failure. His mother said he had a heart attack on a Tuesday, slipped into a coma on Wednesday and then died the following Monday.

Bert was one of the sweetest guys I've ever known, also one of the best storytellers ever. I can't tell you all how sorry I am to get this news.

I spoke with his mother for a fairly long time. Bert was her only child, and as she put it, he was someone very special. I think we all can agree on that point. She also said she just lost her husband at the beginning of January, so this year has been especially rough for her. She told me she would send me a copy of the eulogy that Bert's good friend delivered, which I will share with everyone on this list when I receive it. She also said that he had so many friends that you couldn't even get in the church for the funeral, it was so crowded. I told her he had many more friends than she could know, as I'm sure all of you all across the country considered Bert a friend. I know I sure did. And I'm going to miss him terribly.